


Delirious

by gothic_burrito



Series: College Professor AU [2]
Category: La Passe-Miroir | The Mirror Visitor - Christelle Dabos
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comfort No Hurt, F/M, Fluff, Thorn is tired, confusion as per usual, like... REALLY tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29379000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gothic_burrito/pseuds/gothic_burrito
Summary: Thorn has officially overworked himself and comes home to Ophelia, not realizing where he is or who she is. So naturally, he refuses to get in bed with her since "he has a wife".(This is part of my college professor AU but this can be read separately, you do not have to read the first part in order to understand it)
Relationships: Ophélie/Thorn (La Passe-Miroir)
Series: College Professor AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2158116
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	Delirious

**Author's Note:**

> So I was crying the other day (like one does) and to cheer myself up I went through some OTP prompts on Tumblr. So this is where I found the inspo for this small fic. Here's the [original prompt ](https://thestovetops.tumblr.com/post/632574431304335360/imagine-your-otp)💕
> 
> This one's also for everyone in the Mirror Visitor fanclub on Tumblr 💖 y'all are the best!!

Ophelia sighed and checked the time on the wall clock in her office. It was gone ten in the evening. Her concentration had already abandoned her hours ago but she had wanted to get everything done before tomorrow. Well, it looked like that would not happen. She stifled a yawn and stretched her arms over her head to wake her body up a bit. She still had a decent stack of papers to grade but that would have to wait for now.

The small woman shuffled out of her chair awkwardly, back stiff and aching from sitting in it for too long. She loved her job dearly but she had to admit that it was not necessarily good for her posture. Not good for her sleep schedule either. Even though she handled late hours significantly more responsibly than her husband did. He would have powered through and finished all the papers in one go, she mused. She snickered at the thought of him hunched over his desk, reading glasses on his large nose and eyes fixed onto whatever he was working on. She liked to watch him work sometimes. Whenever she had free time she would come over to his office, sit on the little sofa and just observe him. She would never get tired of looking at him. He wasn’t conventionally handsome but there was a certain thing about him that just drew her eyes to him time and time again. It had been there from the first time they met. Even if she had tried to fight it at first.

Another sigh escaped her lips. She should stop daydreaming about her husband and actually go home to him. Good thing that they lived close to the university. That way they could go to work together or separately, depending on their schedules, with next to no inconvenience.

She locked her office door and made her way down the deserted and dark hallway. It was summertime so there were a few last rays of daylight left but not enough to see clearly. The walk home was as uneventful as ever but Ophelia noticed that the lights in their house were off. She had assumed that Thorn would wait up for her. She had not planned to stay this late but still, he was usually way too restless to sleep without her next to him.

Switching on the light in the hallway and turning towards the coat rack, she noticed that the blazer he had worn that day was not on it's usual hanger. Oh, this explained it. He hadn’t gone to bed without her, he was not home yet. She checked her phone for any messages. No new messages.

If she had been married to anyone else, she might have started to get suspicious and assumed he must have an affair. But Ophelia knew that something like that would never happen with Thorn. There was only one explanation for his absence. He was still working. She could slap herself for not checking his office before leaving. She had talked him into going home earlier but of course, something had come up and since she had been too busy herself, she hadn’t made sure he actually followed her suggestion. This was the fourth consecutive night he was working late and Ophelia could not suppress the sliver of worry. He should really rest more, or his body would eventually just shut down. It had happened before, in the early days of their relationship. And she had sworn to never let it happen again.

Ophelia felt like her stomach was filled with stones when she made her way upstairs into their bedroom. She should go back and get him home. She should not leave him working himself into the ground. She was his wife. It was her part to stop him from harming himself. But she had a slight hope that he would come home soon enough and she was so tired herself. Even the thought of walking all the way back to the University made her back ache even more. It had been a truly harrowing day.

Once she had changed into her nightwear, she checked her phone again and sent him a short text message.

“Come home honey <3”

She knew that he would probably not see it if he was truly in the middle of his work. He had his phone on silent whenever he did not want to be disturbed. Calling would also have no effect in that case.

Ophelia got into bed, leaning over and wrapping her arms around Thorn’s pillow. She found that being surrounded by his scent helped her calm down and since he wasn’t there himself, she had to make do with what she had. Her eyes were so heavy that she hardly had enough time to turn off the light on her bedside table before she drifted away into dreamland.

The creaking of a door woke her up with a start. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the lack of light but she could make out a tall and thin figure standing in the doorway. Ophelia slumped back onto the mattress. It was Thorn. She considered turning on the light but decided against it. They both needed their sleep and turning on the light would only make it harder to fall back asleep.

But she still could not help greet him. “Ah, there you are. Come to bed darling. I was worried about you.” Her voice was hoarse from sleep, and the sound of it rang loud in the otherwise tranquil room. The silhouette swayed slightly to the side.

“No, I… I shouldn’t. “Thorn sounded strange. It was definitely him but his voice had lost some of that typical neutrality. He sounded absolutely exhausted. Guilt bloomed in her chest. She really should have checked on him and made sure that he went home on time.

“What are you talking about? You are overworking yourself and need rest. So come here!” She insisted and lifted the comforter invitingly. But Thorn did not move. He just kept standing in the middle of the room like a pillar. Ophelia considered if he had fallen asleep while standing but then he replied at last.

“I have a wife, that I love very much. I should not get in bed with anyone else!” His voice lacked any sort of tone but she could tell that he was serious. What was he talking about? She was his wife! How exhausted did he have to be to forget where he was and who he was talking to?

Ophelia suppressed a giggle and stretched to turn the bedside lamp on after all. The soft light hit her eyes with full force and she had to squint and wait a moment to let them adjust again. She turned to look back at Thorn.

He was standing at the foot of their bed. Hair sticking up in all directions, shirt slightly crumpled, and reading glasses sitting crooked on his face. His eyes were red-rimmed and almost fully closed. She noticed that he was swaying a bit like he could just barely keep himself on his feet. The sight of him so utterly disheveled and delirious broke her heart.

Wordlessly she got out of bed and patted over to him. He did not look at her. His eyes were still fixed on the place where she had been on the bed. She slit one arm loosely around his back and started to tentatively peel his blazer off of him. He did not react.

She noticed the strong smell of disinfectant on him and wondered what had caused him to use it again. The obsessive disinfecting had decreased significantly since they were together and now, he only did it when something really stressed him out. The small brunette giggled internally. Other women smelled alcohol on their husbands for entirely different reasons. He sure was special, her Thorn.

“You need to get out of your work clothes or you’ll wrinkle them even more. Care to help me a bit or do you want me to do all the work on my own?” She purred into his ear and watched the hairs at the nape of his neck stand up. Oh so at least his subconsciousness knew who she was. He slowly raised his hands to the buttons of his shirt and started undoing them one by one. Ophelia noticed the slight tremor in his usually so steady hands. Another slash of worry. She would have to force him to take a sick day and properly sleep this off. There was no way she would let him go to work in this state.

Eventually, his shirt was completely open so Ophelia pushed it off of his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Thorn did not attempt to pick it up and place it in the hamper. That was when Ophelia drew the last line. If he was so tired that he didn’t care that his clothes were lying on the floor then he was truly gone. She pushed him onto the bed, careful as to not trip him up. He sat on it slightly slumped and stared at her with those unbelievably intense eyes.

“I should not let you do this. Ophelia is the only one who’s allowed to…” He broke off when she opened his belt and fly. She was too tired to argue with him, especially when he wasn’t making any sense. So she went to work on his pants instead. Fully opening them and pulling them down his legs.

In another scenario, the direct way she undressed him would make both of them blush. But neither of them had time to even think about the other connotations undressing one another could have. Ophelia just wanted to get him down to his underwear so that he could sleep more comfortably. And she knew that he wouldn’t do it by himself. Luckily, he had already removed his shoes downstairs.

But right as Ophelia was going to get back into bed and drag him with her, he shifted out of her reach and rolled onto the floor. “I can’t sleep in the same bed as another woman. I’m sure you are lovely but my wife deserves better.” His voice was muffled by the carpet he had just pressed his face into.

Ophelia could not stop the laugh that burst out of her. What a strange situation this was. He kept insisting that he didn’t know who she was and at this point, she didn’t know how to convince him that she was his wife. But she couldn’t let him sleep on the floor either. That would surely not be restful. So she tried to reason with him one more time. Going down on the floor with him, she turned him on his side and leaned over his head. She placed a chaste kiss on the scar on his cheek and ran her thumb over his goatee. “But I AM your wife, honey.” Ophelia tried to remove all the frustration and exhaustion from her voice. He had to see her love for him. A spark of recognition appeared in his eyes. He pressed his face more firmly into her hand.

“See, it’s just me. Now, would you finally come to bed with me? We both need sleep.” She smiled and could feel her body finally relax a bit. Thorn nodded and they both got up and slowly crawled under the covers. Ophelia wrapped her arms tightly around her husband’s torso and rested her head in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent and enjoying the warmth of his body. Snuggled up like this, it took both of them no effort to finally fall asleep for good.

**Author's Note:**

> Listen... the bit with the reading glasses... that is 100% inspired by [this ](https://www.instagram.com/p/CAH95CbKnYz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link) post 👀😂
> 
> Also LOOK, I posted during the day instead of in the middle of the night, truly wild times 😂


End file.
